Composed in the conception of hearing stags while staying overnight at a port.
湊川夜ふねこぎいづる追風に鹿の声さへ瀬戸わたるなり
minatogaFa
yobune kogi’iduru
oFikaze ni
sika no kowe saFe
seto watarunari |
At Minato River
The night boats row out
Carried on the wind
Do even the stags’ cries
Carry across the straits? |
Dōin (1090-1182)
道因
Composed when he was going to a distant place and [Minamoto no] Moromitsu saw him off.
かへりこんほどをちぎらむとおもへどもおいぬる身こそさだめがたけれ
kaerikon
hodo o chigiramu to
omoedomo
oinuru mi koso
sadamegatakere |
To return
Sometime, I would make a vow,
I feel, yet
For my aged bones
There is nothing certain. |
The Monk Dōin
Composed on ayame (sweet flags) for the Fifth Day of the Fifth Month.
けふかくる袂に根ざせ菖蒲草憂は我身にありと志らずや
keFu kakuru
tamoto ni ne zase
ayamegusa
uki Fa wa ga mi ni
ari to sirazu ya |
Today, we hang you up, so
In my sleeve take root,
O Sweet flags!
My body is a thing of clay,
Don’t you know? |
The Monk Dōin
Composed as a poem on blossom.
散る花を身にかふ計おもへども叶はで年の老いにける哉
tiru Fana wo
mi ni kaFu bakari
omoFedomo
kanaFade tosi no
oinikeru kana |
The scattering blossom
For myself to exchange, is my only
Thought, but
It does nothing and with every year
I grow a little older! |
The Monk Dōin
'Simply moving and elegant'